Sustainable Tourism Policy

Take five simple steps to write a sustainable tourism policy...

The document should be written simply, and concisely.

1.    An overall mission statement.

This can be a broad statement that dictates your company’s stance on sustainability. It may indicate the type of company that you aspire to be, your beliefs and vision for sustainability and why you wish to make changes to the way your business operates. Mission statements are often no more than a few lines.

2.    A review of where you are now.

Take a look at what your business is doing at the moment- you may well already be making some great steps towards being a truly green company, so publicise them! Also indicate if you are already complying with green or sustainable standards, whether government or industry led. Reviewing where you are now will help you to understand where you need to make your next steps. The Travel Foundation offers an auditing service- you can find out more about this here.

3.    A vision and targets for each area of your business.

Look at each part of your business and what it affects, and write a vision and targets for each area. You should then report back on the achievements made with that target.
For example, think about each area of business in terms its greatest negative impacts. Your mode of client transport is likely to affect the climate more than anything else, and your UK office probably has higher paper consumption than any other part of the business.

There are many good examples of this. One is TUI’s Sustainable Development Report, by looking at the contents page you can see that they have considered each part of their business. For example, below relates to their policy on climate change (pages 13 & 14):

Vision:
Reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by our operations – focusing on the most carbon-intensive – and where possible, replace our existing energy supplies with those containing less carbon.

Targets:

• Reducing the carbon dioxide emitted by our operations.
• Investing in new technology.
• Substituting fossil fuels with lower-carbon sources where feasible.
• Offsetting by investment in significant renewable energy projects in developing countries to which we operate.

Achievements:
TUI Travel’s carbon footprint decreased by 8% between 2006/07 and 2007/08.

4.    Include ‘how’: all targets and goals should be measurable

You should explain how you are going to achieve each goal and put quantitative measures in place so you can track your success.

For example...
Target: In 1 year’s time we aim to reduce staff air travel by 5%, and wherever possible use alternative methods of transport
How will you measure this?: ‘Last year staff took 25 business trips, 12 of these by air. This year staff have taken 24 business trips, 9 of these by air. We reduced our travel by plane by holding a virtual conference on one occasion, combining meetings and by using the train whenever possible.’
Some targets may be continuous goals, for example, only using recycled paper.

5.    Annually review your goals, and publish the results in the following year’s statement.

Ensure the reports are highlighted online, and in literature where possible. Just as you would review your finances annually, review the targets you set, and the actions that you have taken to achieve them. Then set new goals for the year ahead.

A good example of this can been seen in Thomas Cook's sustainability report, as it clearly indicates what their priorities are, what has been achieved, and what they hope to achieve in the next year. The report is published online and available for all to see.